[This is a post from James Marsden, a Buyer Agent at Charlesgate Realty Group. If you have questions, please contact James].

Based in the jump in the number of foreclosure petitions issued by banks (the first step in the foreclosure process) in Massachusetts in 2010, foreclosed properties should continue to play a large role in the Boston real estate market.

While foreclosures can be an awesome deal, searching for and buying a foreclosed property in Boston and the surrounding area is a daunting task. Property being foreclosed on is sometimes referred to as a Short Sale, a Pre-Foreclosure, Off Market Pending Eviction, REO, Bank Owned, Lender Owned, or some other technical term.

Each one of these terms and status have an impact on not only how much you offer for a property but how you can even find the properties and to whom the offer should be made.